Partial Heart Transplantation with Reduced Levels of Immunosuppression – A New Treatment Paradigm for Newborn Babies with Unrepairable Heart Valve Dysfunction

Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, SC

Principal Investigator: Taufiek Konrad Rajab, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics

Despite decades of intensive research focusing on tissue engineering with stem cells, attempts to deliver growing heart valve replacements for newborn babies have failed in clinical translation. This is a critical barrier to progress of the field. Our overall goal is to overcome this barrier using an entirely new approach based on partial heart transplantation. Partial heart transplantation involves transplantation of a heart valve only.  The objective of the proposed project is to determine the minimum level of immune suppression required for partial heart transplants. Our central hypothesis is that partial heart transplants require lower levels of immunosuppression than conventional heart transplants.

1.     Determine the Effect of Reduced Immunosuppression on Partial Heart Transplant Viability, Growth and Function.

2.     Investigate Endothelialization of Partial Heart Transplant Donor Grafts with Recipient Cells.